‘Tis the season for checking scorecards. In a hallmark year for the movie industry, there will be a lot of smiles on the faces of those in the ‘biz who examine figures for a living. There are still two weeks left in 2023, but so far, the numbers for Box Office totals have surpassed 2022 in film.
Total domestic gross for the year has reached over $8.3 Billion. This may account, when the year is up, for a 12-13% increase over last year’s totals, which in turn was a 64% build over 2021. Sure, the growth shrunk, but this has still been the biggest year for ticket sales in the post-COVID era. The biggest year in recent memory for total domestic numbers was 2018, the year Black Panther shook the world, which raked in $11.9 Billion. The lowest, naturally, was 2020, which plummeted to a mere $2.1 Billion (an 81% drop from the previous year).
It’s possible that this may be the last year for continuing growth in this regard. The Hollywood Labor Strikes, which lasted from May to October, took a massive chunk out of the national production schedule, and though studios seek to make up for lost time via delayed releases and stockpiles of new material, they will rely on heavy fanfare and promotion, to be drawn up in the coming months, to make ends meet.
Speaking of fanfare, what were the biggest hits of the year? Surprise, surprise…Barbie still holds its pink plastic crown from the summer. The highest-grossing film of the year made $636 Million domestically and $1.4 Billion worldwide. The list of the top five biggest hits in the U.S. is unchanged from the summer, with Universal Studios scoring two of the five (Super Mario Bros. and Oppenheimer) – amassing nearly $900 Million together.
Shrinking the time frame a bit, the 4th Quarter (October-December) saw a second annual decrease in domestic sales, with $1.3 Billion cumulative gross compared to $1.7 Billion in Q4 2022 and $2.1 Billion in 2021. Over the past weekend, the biggest opener was The Boy and The Heron, a Japanese-produced animated film by Japan’s own Walt Disney, the renowned director, Hayao Miyazaki. The 80-year-old Miyazaki’s film always triumphs in creativity and storytelling, have historically drawn a sizeable niche audience here in the States upon opening, and this is no exception (It is also worth mentioning that the filmmaker takes a page out of rock band The Who’s playbook when it comes to marketing – he has announced his retirement half-a-dozen times over the past few decades and every new film is, apparently, his “last.” Add this one to the ever-growing list; I’ll see you in five years for his next “farewell.”)
Don’t underestimate the power of the Oscars.
As will be discussed in this column in great length over the coming months, The Academy Awards still matter a great deal. Maybe not so much for the ABC Television audience, but for film personnel and studio executives it is still the Super Bowl. 2023 had a wildly successful Oscars telecast, with great enthusiasm for last year’s nominees (remember when Top Gun: Maverick united the country? Or when Everything Everywhere All at Once encouraged us not to despair?). The inclusion of popular movies into the Oscar nominees made for a plugged-in audience, the likes of which haven’t been seen in years. 2024 may prove to be a repeat or even an expansion of that achievement. Mega-hits like Barbie and Oppenheimer lead the way into Oscar night, along with heavy hitters like Killers of the Flower Moon and smaller underdog flicks like The Holdovers and May December (recently reviewed for this publication). When there’s something for everybody, the phenomenon grows, and the audience follows suit.
2023 will prove to be one of the most successful recent years in film, overcoming stumbling block after stumbling block and rejuvenating the world of moviegoers with fresh ideas and different stories. Cheers to 2024!
Dylan James graduated from the Savannah College of Art & Design with a BFA in Dramatic Writing. He has studied both the ‘show’ and ‘business’ aspects of show business since childhood, and writes through sociological analysis, seeking relevance in the art and commerce for the moment.
